Prologue
Welcome to your new-found hell.
My name is Evan Wright. Evan isn't my real first name, but I hate it when people call me 'Evangeline'. I'm 14 and today is my first day as a freshman at Ridgemont High. And no, there's no relation to the movie, Fast Times At Ridgemont High. Pure coincidence. My two best friends from junior high left for different schools. But considering I'm facing the first day of school by myself, I'm not in the least bit nervous or concerned. And yes, I've noticed, it's not normal. I know people who have all their friends with them and still aren't calm. One kid had a panic attack. I struggled not to laugh. That brings me to another point: people believe I'm mean. But my way of looking at it is that I'm not mean, I'm sarcastic. I'm also liberal-republican, so a lot of people hate my views on that as well. The majority of my friends are democrats. Of course, I still have fun ticking them off come elections. I am very close to my friends and would do anything for them. But enough about me, let's move on to Club Dread.
Chapter One
I walked in the building and immediately spotted Carson, my brother from anothermother. One of my few republican friends, I've known Carson since fifth grade.
"Hey, Carson. How's it goin'?" I asked optimistically.
"You seem… relaxed. I'm good. Getting used to the new swing of things. Already loving this place. You?"
"I'm good. And Carson, honey, I don't know if you've noticed but…. This is high school. It's supposed to be a hell-hole. Why are you loving it?" I asked, trying to figure out what he was talking about.
About that time, a tall, tan, blonde girl walked past us. Watching as she walked past, he replied, "That, is why."
I rolled my eyes.
"Hey, who do you have for physical science?" he asked.
I reached into my back pocket to pull out my schedule. "Um… Kittson. You?"
"Eh, same. Let me see your schedule."
We exchanged schedules.
"Awesome! Same schedule!" I said excitedly.
"Nice!"
We made our way through the deathly crowded hallways. After wondering around the halls for about ten minutes, we found room 110: Mr. Kittson.
"Glad to see you finally joined us. Late on the first day. Not the best first impression." He said in a sarcastic tone.
"We got lost." I said, glancing over to Carson. He had a blank look on his face.
"Miss…"
"Wright."
"No, your last name!" he said impatiently.
"Yes, my last name is Wright. Evan Wright." I replied.
"Oh. Well, Miss Wright. I have been in the school systems and teaching physical science long enough to know that when male and female high school students walk in at the same time, both saying, 'We got lost', they most likely got lost in each others pants!" he lectured.
"No!!!" we both screamed, jumping away from one another.
"Yes, indeed." He said calmly.
"Look, you have it all wrong. Carson has been my friend since fifth grade. In fact, I call him my brother from another mother. Ok? We are the farthest thing from… from…" I gagged on the word. "Lovers. Ugh." I replied, almost yelling. I cut my eyes over to Carson, who was still in shock from the teacher's assumption.
"Well, in that case, Evan, Carson, please take your seats." Mr. Kittson said. Carson now had a puzzled look on his face as if he were trying to understand what the teacher had emphasized.
I took my seat behind a tall, dirty blonde, guy. He turned around and studied me for a second and then went on to introduce himself.
"Hi, my name is Brody. Some argument you carried up there."
"Hi, I'm Evan. And thank you for noticing." I said, studying his blue eyes.
"Well, it was hard not to notice." He said smiling. He had a gorgeous smile. I simply smiled back.
"Ahem. Miss. Wright, if you're done flirting with Mr. McKnight, I'd like to continue with class." Mr. Kittson remarked in an angry, almost yelling tone. I nodded as he continued.
"As you can already tell, I don't tolerate horseplay and nonsense." He said this looking right at me. Then, he shifted his glare to Carson. "Now, I'm going to start on the left side of the room and I want each of you to stand up, state your name, age, previous school, and a little something about yourself." He went around the room and then reached me.
"Um….hi. My name is Evan Wright. I'm 14. My previous school was Black Forrest Middle and I love to debate about politics." I could see Mr. Kittson's expression lighten. I had a feeling we shared a similar interest.
We spent the whole class period doing that: going around the room introducing ourselves. After class, Brody caught me in the hall.
"Hey, Evan!"
"Yeah?"
"Don't worry about Kittson. My older bro had him last year and said he's that way towards everyone and he doesn't change."
"Good to know." I said, looking away.
"So don't think he hates you or anything, he just acts tough."
"Thanks for the advice, but I'm really not afraid."
"Oh, sorry. Just trying to help."
"No, no. Don't go. I'm sorry. I'm just upset about my friends not being here."
"You wanna talk about it?" He looked at me and gave me that same gorgeous smile.
"They just went to different schools. No worries."
"No worries? What are you, Australian all of a sudden?"
It wasn't the first time I had heard that. In fact, I've heard that my whole life. I have an off-on British accent that everyone notices. My friends love it. They think it's kinda cool.
"Sorry, it's off-on."
"Don't sweat it," he replied with a great smile. "I think it's kinda cute."
I could tell he was flirting big time. You see, I like guys who a) don't like me back, or b) already have girlfriends. That's the way it's always been. So, for a guy to like me and openly flirt like that was certainly a first. I liked him, but didn't like him like that. I mean, normally, I'd dive in head first over a guy like Brody. But for some reason, I didn't even bother.
"Thanks. Most people think it's cute, too." I said calmly. I could tell he realized I blew off the word 'cute'. But he continued to try.
"So, if you wanna hang out some time, feel free to ask me."
"Sounds good. Thanks." I replied, smiling in a flirtatious way.